Request for Quote

Two years ago I was working on a database and front end for a fridge company. I think they made other things too but I always thought of them as a fridge company, so let's just call them FridgeCo. The whole point of the database was to help FridgeCo find the cheapest supplier for different parts they needed to make fridges. There were all sorts of weird things they needed to purchase. 50 gallon tubs of hydrochloric acid, hoses and other weird chemicals I couldn't believe were used in the production of a fridge.

So you would choose the things you wanted, then the database would search through the manufacturers that could produce it and create some Excel spreadsheets. Then some jerk at FridgeCo would email the spreadsheets to the manufacturers. They would fill out the spreadsheets and send them back. Then the program would read in the filled out spreadsheets, and display all the price quotes for whatever product you wanted to purchase.

Before our database was made the jerks at FridgeCo had to email out everything and create all sorts of crazy spreadsheets. "What a bunch of morons, they're doing everything by hand". Well today I just finished writing forty emails in reply to people who want to draw background images for Rock Bottom.  It is such a pain in the ass and is my least favourite part of making a video game. I have to look through their galleries, tell them what I want them to draw and then negotiate prices with them. Fuck I hate all the flash galleries that are impossible to browse.

When a lot of people apply for a job, I basically write out a long email describing the job and then replace the name at the top of the email. Something like "Hey DudeMan, [Long boring Rock Bottom backgrounds description].". The funny thing is a lot of these guys are sending out the same email to every single job they see out there.

So they send out some pre-written email, and I send out a pre-written response. Sometimes it takes about four emails before I write something unique to them. I hate the whole process of finding an artist.

Clever Vishal found a website called odesk.com. They streamline (man I hate that word) the whole process. So you pay on the website, you communicate on the website AND the website even monitors them while they are working. So you can make sure they don't fuck you in the anal canal.

We put an ad there but everyone who applied sucked.